Lawyer asks court to acquit Rail Abbasov

On 26 December, lawyer Elchin Sadygov made a closing speech at the trial of activist Rail Abbasov at the Baku Court for Serious Crimes.

He stated that the court investigation was conducted in violation of the principle of adversarial proceedings, the defence motions were not satisfied, and no evidence of Abbasov's guilt was presented.

Thus, there are no facts that Abbasov received 200,000 manats from the victim, allegedly for the promise to sell him a flat of a third party.

The defence lawyer also pointed out that the investigation claims that the money was given to Abbasov in chocolate boxes were not true. Sadygov pointed out that the chocolate boxes and a bag they were in had been preserved. This is recorded on the video presented by the investigation, and the defence can present the same bag and boxes of chocolate that Abbasov never used.

The lawyer pointed out that the case against Abbasov was fabricated because of his active participation in the defence of another activist, Bakhtiyar Hajiyev.

The defence also asked the court to remove from Abbasov a claim for damages in the amount of 200,000 manats, as there is not even a civil suit against him.

Abbasov himself was not ready for his speech and asked for time to prepare. The trial will continue on 9 January.

*On 20 September 2023 Nasimi Court of Baku arrested Abbasov for 4 months on charges under Article 178.3.2 (large-scale fraud) of the Criminal Code.

Abbasov denies the charges, believing the real reason to be his active participation in defence of the rights of activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, arrested back in December 2022.

Human rights activists recognised both of them as political prisoners.